| This article is about the unit in Age of Empires III. For the similar unit in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors, see Petard (Age of Empires II). |
"Siege warrior that dies when it attacks buildings, but does lots of damage."
—In-game description
The Petard is a siege infantry in Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs that can be trained at the Artillery Foundry once the Fortress Age is reached. Similar to the Age of Empires II counterpart, it is a suicide unit that can deal massive damage to buildings.
Petards are available to European civilizations except John Black's Mercenaries (Act II: Ice campaign) and Knights of St. John (Act I: Blood campaign).
Overview 
Edit
Unction boosted regular Petards with all available upgrades are capable of inflicting 3257 damage versus buildings in a single explosion. They will also possess 393 hit points, 4.40 speed and double (12) their usual melee attack power. However their hand attacks are still ineffective in actual combat.
Russian Petards can cause up to 2800 damage with the Ransack Home City Card.
Upgrades Edit
The Petard is automatically upgraded at Industrial Age and Imperial Age.
- +25% hit points and attack
- +50% hit points and attack
Civilization differences Edit
- The Germans can ship four Nitroglycerine Petard through the Demolition Squad Home City Card which have more than thrice the hit points and almost triple the siege attack of regular Petards, allowing them to destroy most buildings in one hit.
- Asian civilizations can get Petards by allying with the British and Portuguese at the Consulate, which provides shipments that includes Petards listed below.
Further statistics Edit
As the Petard can only be trained by European civilizations, only improvements available them (including native improvements) are listed here.
| Unit strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Buildings |
| Weak vs. | Units, especially cavalry and artillery |
| Improvements | |
| Hit points |  Thin Red Line (+20%, British only) Cree Tanning (+5%) Navajo Weaving (+5%)
|
| Attack |  Yoga (+5%)
|
| Speed |  Military Drummers (+10%) Tilly's Discipline (+20%, Germans only) Incan Road-building (+20%) Apache Endurance (+5%)
|
| Sight |  Town Watch (+2)
|
| Creation speed |  Standing Army (-25%) Incan Chasquis Messengers (-25%)
|
| Penalties | Thin Red Line (-25% speed, British only) Coffee Trade (-10% speed, Dutch only) Tilly's Discipline (+10% cost, Germans only)
|
Home City Cards Edit
As the Petard is exclusive to European civilizations, only other civilizations' TEAM cards that affects them are listed here.
| Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Petard | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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|
Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Europeans
|
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Infantry train time -40% |  | 10 |
- The Fencing School card is not available to the Ottomans.
Dutch Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Infantry gets +15% hit points | | 10 |
 | Ships 6 Petards |  | 10 |
Germans Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Ships 4 Nitroglycerine Petards +4 Uhlans |  | 40 |
Indians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | All units get +5% hit points and attack | | 25 |
Iroquois Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Infantry gets +8 LOS | | 10 |
Russians Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Infantry gets +50% siege attack | | 25 |
 | Infantry train time -25%; Skull Knights spawn 25% faster; banner army train time -12% | | 25 |
Spanish Edit
| Card | Description | Age | Home City level |
|---|---|---|---|
 | All units get +10 LOS | | 10 |
Trivia Edit
- When the Petard attacks a building, it shows that the soldiers who carry the bomb will attempt to escape from the explosion, but do not succeed and die.
- Despite the model featuring two men carrying the bomb, the Petard only uses a single population slot.
- Although Petards are excellent for destroying buildings, they are very weak at fighting other units by using hand combat. Petards cannot blow up on units to kill them, making them defenseless to any soldiers.
History Edit
"The term petard first emerged during medieval times, referring to a small and notoriously unstable explosive device similar in concept and usage to the modern grenade. The name probably derives from the Latin "petar," which means, "to break wind" (an example of the military mind's wry sense of humor.)
To be "hoisted by one's own petard" is a phrase commonly thought to mean something along the lines of "being hung with your own rope"; or, to stay true to the actual context of an explosive device, to be blown up by your own bomb. The saying is derived from Shakespeare's Hamlet. The bard wrote:
"For 'tis the sport to have the engineer
Hoist with his own petar""
Gallery Edit
